Game management system

ABSTRACT

A game management system manages a casino game performed in a plurality of tables in casino facilities. The game management system includes: a camera obtaining an image by capturing bet gaming tokens; a control device specifying a betting amount on the basis of the type and the number of gaming tokens in the image by specifying a betting target on the basis of a position of the gaming token in the image; a card distribution device determining a game result of the casino game; an arithmetic device calculating a profit of a casino manager for each table and each game of the plurality of tables, on the basis of the betting target, the betting amount, and the game result; and a recording apparatus recording the profit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/320,596 filed Aug. 16, 2019, which is a national phase applicationunder 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Pat. App. No. PCT/JP2017/027334filed Jul. 27, 2017, which claims priority to International Pat. App.No. PCT/JP2016/072671 filed Aug. 2, 2016 and JP Pat. App. No.2017-125723 filed Jun. 28, 2017, the disclosure of each of which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a system detecting fraud in a game in acasino, or error or fraud at the time of betting or settlement of chips.

BACKGROUND

In a casino or the like, attempts have been made to prevent variousfrauds. The casino includes a surveillance camera for surveiling thefraud, and prevents a fraud by detecting a fraud in a game, or a frauddue to collection or paying of chips, different from a win or loseresult, from an image obtained by the surveillance camera.

On the other hand, it is proposed that a wireless IC (RFID) tag isapplied to each of the chips in order to recognize the numbers or thetotal amount of bet chips, and thus, the amount of chips is recognized.

In a card game monitoring system described in WO 2015/107902 A, whetheror not chips placed on a gaming table are collected or paid as a win orlose result is determined by performing image analysis with respect tothe movement of the chip, and thus, fraud monitoring is performed.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a novel system managing a gamein a casino.

One aspect of the invention is a game management system managing acasino game performed in a plurality of tables in casino facilities, thesystem including: a camera obtaining an image by capturing bet gamingtokens; an information processing device specifying a betting amount onthe basis of the type and the number of gaming tokens in the image byspecifying a betting target on the basis of a position of the gamingtoken in the image; a game result determination device determining agame result of the casino game; a calculation device calculating aprofit of a casino manager for each table and each game of the pluralityof tables, on the basis of the betting target, the betting amount, andthe game result; and a recording apparatus recording the profit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a fraud detection systemin a casino having a plurality of gaming tables according to a firstembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2A is a perspective diagram of chips illustrating an example ofdifferent overlapped states of chips recognized in the first embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 2B is a perspective diagram of chips illustrating an example ofdifferent overlapped states of chips recognized in the first embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating details of a chip tray in the firstembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating another example of a chip tray in thefirst embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged diagram illustrating a mark explaining stains of acard recognized in the first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5A is a plan diagram illustrating a font side of a marker in thefirst embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5B is a plan diagram illustrating a back side of the marker in thefirst embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a simplified image of a state ofexchange of cash and chips recognized in the first embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 7 is a plan diagram illustrating an overview of a fraud detectionsystem in a baccarat game according to a second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 8 is a plan diagram illustrating an overview of a progress of abaccarat game in the fraud detection system according to the secondembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a situation that a dealer in a baccaratgame collects chips which a casino side wins;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a situation in the second embodimentof the invention that a dealer in a baccarat game pays for a winingplayer (game participant);

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a situation in the second embodimentof the invention that a wining player (game participant) in a baccaratgame collects chips and receives payout;

FIG. 12A is a diagram illustrating an image as an object of imageanalysis for collection of chips which a casino side wins by a dealer inthe fraud detection system according to the second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 12B is a diagram illustrating an image as an object of imageanalysis for collection of chips which a casino side wins by a dealer inthe fraud detection system according to the second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 12C is a diagram illustrating an image as an object of imageanalysis for collection of chips which a casino side wins by a dealer inthe fraud detection system according to the second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an image as an object of imageanalysis for fraudulent collection of chips in the fraud detectionsystem according to the second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating an image as an object of imageanalysis for collection of chips which a game participant side wins inthe fraud detection system according to the second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 14B is a diagram illustrating an image as an object of imageanalysis for collection of chips which a game participant side wins inthe fraud detection system according to the second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 14C is a diagram illustrating an image as an object of imageanalysis for collection of chips which a game participant side wins inthe fraud detection system according to the second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 14D is a diagram illustrating an image as an object of imageanalysis for collection of chips which a game participant side wins inthe fraud detection system according to the second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 15 is a side cross-sectional diagram illustrating a carddistribution device in the second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a card in the secondembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 17 is a partial cutaway plan diagram illustrating main componentsof a card guiding portion of the card distribution device in the secondembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 18A is a side cross-sectional diagram illustrating main componentsof a modified example of the distribution restricting device whichrestricts entering and exiting of cards from a card containing portionof the card distribution device in the second embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 18B is a side cross-sectional diagram illustrating main componentsof a distribution restricting device which restricts entering andexiting of cards from a card containing portion of the card distributiondevice in the second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between output waveforms of sensors and marks in the card distribution device in the secondembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 20 is a schematic view of casino facilities to which a gamemanagement system of a third embodiment of the invention is introduced;

FIG. 21 is an example of a table indicating sales (a total amount ofbetting amounts) for each gaming table of the third embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 22 is an example of a table indicating sales for each game in eachof the gaming tables of the third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 23 is an example of a table indicating a total betting amount, aprofit (a gross), and a profit rate for each gaming table of the thirdembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 24 is an example of a polygonal line graph illustrating atransition of the profit in each of the gaming tables of the thirdembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 25 is an example of a graph indicating a transition of a profit inall of the casino facilities of the third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 26 is an example of a bar graph indicating a profit rate for eachgaming table of the third embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF NON-LIMITING EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

In a casino such as a casino, highly stacked chips are placed on agaming table, and thus, there is a problem in that a total amount of thechips cannot be accurately read by an IC tag reading device providedunder the gaming table. If the sensitivity of the reading device isheightened, chips placed at other positions (win or lose depends on theposition) may be added, and thus, there is a problem in that the totalamount of chips at each position cannot be recognized. In addition, inimage capturing of a camera, there is a problem in that the total amountof chips cannot be recognized because a blind spot is formed accordingto a viewing angle of the camera, or entering into a shadow caused byoverlap.

In addition, if cards are slanted by “card squeegee” (behavior ofbending a face-down card to enjoying a rank of the card little bylittle) or the like which is frequently performed by players in abaccarat game, there is a problem in that ranks and suits of cardscannot be determined through image analysis using cameras.

In addition, fraud in the gaming table is further more sophisticated,and thus, there is a new problem in that fraud by an advanced bettingmethod which cannot be found through simple detection of largeness orthe like in the winning amount in the gaming table cannot be detected bythe camera or by tracking the winning amount. In addition, fraudaccording to conspiracy of a dealer and a player is not sufficientlyprevented in the related art.

In order to solve the above-described problems, in a first embodiment, afraud detection system in a casino having a plurality of gaming tablesis configured to include a game recording apparatus which records aprogress of a game played in the gaming table including a dealer and aplayer as an image through a camera, an image analyzing apparatus whichperforms image analysis on the image of the recorded progress of thegame, a card distribution device which determines a win or lose resultof each game in the gaming table, and a control device which detectsfraud practiced in the gaming table by using a result of the imageanalysis by the image analyzing apparatus and a win or lose resultdetermined by the card distribution device.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the card distribution devicehas a structure capable of reading ranks of the cards distributed. Thecontrol device has a structure capable of determining match or mismatchby checking information on the rank obtained from the image of each carddistributed in the gaming table by the image analyzing apparatus andinformation on the rank of the card read by the card distributiondevice.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the image analyzingapparatus or the control device has an artificial intelligence utilizingtype structure or a deep learning structure capable of obtaininginformation on rank of a card from the card which is distributed in thegaming table and is folded or stained by a player.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the control devicerecognizes positions, types, and numbers of chips wagered by playersthrough the image analyzing apparatus and determines by image analysisof a progress of the game through the image analyzing apparatus whetheror not the collection of the lost chips wagered by each player and theredemption for the winning chips are correctly performed in accordancewith a win or lose result of the game.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the image analyzingapparatus or the control device has an artificial intelligence utilizingtype structure or a deep learning structure where, although a portion ofor the entire chips among a plurality of the chips placed on the gamingtable is concealed due to a blind spot of the camera, the information onthe type, number, and position of the wagered chips can be obtained.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the control device has anartificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learningstructure where comparison calculation according to the win or loseresult of the game can be performed on whether or not the recognizedamount of the chips in the chip tray of the dealer of the gaming tableis increased/decreased according to the collected amount of the lostchips wagered by each player and the paid amount of the winning chipsafter the end of the game and the settlement.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the control device has anartificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learningstructure capable of recognizing the position and amount of the chipswagered in each play position of the game table and comparing thehistory of win and lose of each player obtained from the win or loseresult of each game and the amount of the acquired chips and thestatistical data of previous games to extract a strange situation.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the control device has anartificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learningstructure capable of comparing a state that, at a play position of acertain gaming table, the amount of betting chips at the lost time issmaller than the amount of betting chips at the win time and thestatistical data of previous games to extract a strange situation.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the control device has astructure capable of extracting the strange situation through the imageanalyzing apparatus or specifying individual players at the playerpositions where winning of a predetermined amount or more occurs.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the control device has acaution function of informing about the existence of the specifiedplayer in another gaming table when the specified player departs andarrives at the other gaming table.

In order to solve the above-described problems, according the invention,there is provided a fraud detection system in a casino having aplurality of gaming tables is configured to include a game recordingapparatus which records a progress of a game played in the gaming tableincluding a dealer and a player as an image through a camera, a carddistribution device which determines a win or lose result of each gamein the gaming table, an image analyzing apparatus which performs imageanalysis on the image of the recorded progress of the game, and acontrol device which can detect cash and chips in the game table byusing a result of the image analysis by the image analyzing apparatus.The image analyzing apparatus or the control device has an artificialintelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learning structurecapable of detecting the exchange of cash and chips in the gaming tablein a situation other than the state that the dealer is dealing based oninformation from the card distribution device or the dealer, capable ofrecognizing the total amount of the cash which is genuine cash verifiedby black light and recognizing the total amount of the chips even in thestate that a portion of or entire one chip among a plurality of thechips placed on the gaming table as an exchange object is concealed dueto a blind spot of the camera, and capable of comparing the total amountof cash placed on the gaming table by the player and the total amount ofchips placed by the dealer to determine whether or not the two amountsmatch with each other.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the control device has anartificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learningstructure capable of performing comparison calculation as to whether ornot the recognized amount of chips in a chip tray of a dealer of thegaming table is increased or decreased according to a paid amount of thechips corresponding to the exchanged cash after exchange of cash andchips for settlement.

In addition, in the fraud detection system, the control device has anartificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learningstructure where, after the exchange of the cash and the chips forsettlement, comparison calculation of match or mismatch between theinput amount of the cash according to the input by the dealer and thetotal amount of the cash according to the result of the image analysisby the image analyzing apparatus can be performed. In addition, thecontrol device has an artificial intelligence utilizing type structureor a deep learning structure capable of performing comparisoncalculation of match or mismatch between the total input amount of thecash according to the input by the dealer in the gaming table for whichthe dealer is responsible and the total amount of the cash according tothe result of the image analysis by the image analyzing apparatus.

According to the fraud detection system of the embodiment, although thecards are slanted by “card squeegee” frequently performed by players ina baccarat game or the like, the rank and suit of the cards can bedetermined by image analysis, so that the total amount of chips beingoverlapped or being in a blind spot together with the positions can berecognized. In addition, fraud at the time of exchanging cash and chipscan be detected.

Hereinafter, an overview of the fraud detection system in the casinohaving a plurality of the gaming tables in the first embodiment will bedescribed more in detail. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the overviewof the system. The fraud detection system in a casino having a pluralityof gaming tables 4 is configured to include a game recording apparatus11 which records a progress of a game played in the gaming table 4including a player (game participant) 6 and a dealer 5 as an imagethrough a plurality of cameras 2, an image analyzing apparatus 12 whichperforms image analysis on the recorded image of the progress of thegame, and a card distribution device 3 which has a function ofdetermining a win or lose result of each game in the gaming table 4 anddisplaying the win or lose result. The card distribution device 3 is aso-called electronic shoe used by the skilled in the art and has astructure where a game rule is programmed in advance and win or lose ofthe game can be determined by reading information of the cards Cdistributed. For example, in a baccarat game, banker win, player win, ortie is basically determined by a rank of two or three cards, and adetermination result (win or lose result) is displayed by a resultdisplay lamp 13.

The fraud detection system is configured to further include a controldevice 14 which compares the actual rank of the cards according to theresult of the image analysis by the image analyzing apparatus 12 and thewin or lose result determined by the card distribution device 3 todetect fraud (for example, mismatch between a sum of ranks ofdistributed cards and a win or lose result) performed in the gamingtable 4. The card distribution device 3 has a structure capable ofreading rank (A, 2 to 10, J, Q, K) and suit (heart, spade, or the like)of the card C manually distributed by the dealer 5. The control device14 has a structure capable of determining match or mismatch by checkinginformation on rank and suit obtained from the image (captured by usingthe camera 2) of each card distributed in the gaming table 4 by theimage analyzing apparatus 12 (using artificial intelligence) andinformation on rank and suit read by the card distribution device 3. Inthis fraud detection system, each of the image analyzing apparatus 12and the control device 14 has a structure including a computerconfigured with an integrated or plural components, a program, and amemory in a complex manner.

Each of the image analyzing apparatus 12 and the control device 14 hasan artificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learningstructure where, with respect to even a card C which is distributed inthe gaming table 4 and is folded or stained by the player 6, informationon rank of the card can be obtained. As illustrated in FIG. 4, thereoccurs a situation where the stained card C is difficult to distinguishclover from spade lt. Even in this case, suit determination can beperformed by image analysis and determination using an artificialintelligence utilizing type computer or control system and a deeplearning (structure) technique. In addition, although the cards areslanted by “card squeegee” frequently performed by players in a baccaratgame or the like, the suits or ranks of the cards before deformation canbe recognized by using self-learning or the like of a large number ofimages in a modified example by artificial intelligence utilizing typecomputer or control system and a deep learning (structure) technique.Since the artificial intelligence utilizing type computer or controlsystem and a deep learning (structure) technique are well-known andavailable by the skilled in the art, the description thereof is omitted.

The control device 14 having an artificial intelligence utilizing typestructure or a deep learning structure can recognize, through the camera2 and the image analyzing apparatus 12, the position (player, banker, orpair) of the betting area 8 on which the player 6 wagers the chip 9 andthe types (different amount values are designated to different colors ofthe chips 9) and the number of the wagered chips 9. In many case, thechips 9 are not aligned and stacked in the vertical direction, but asillustrated in FIG. 2A, the chips are deviated and overlapped. In thiscase, it is assumed that, when the camera 2 is disposed in a directionof an arrow X illustrated in FIG. 2A (or when the direction of the chip9 becomes a blind spot direction relatively), as illustrated in FIG. 2B,the chip 9 is not seen (in a blind spot). In an artificial intelligenceutilizing type computer or control system and a deep learning(structure) technique, by using a self-learning function or the like,concealing or the like (including concealing of a portion of one chipand concealing of the entire chip) of the chip 9 caused by the blindspot is recognized, so that the number of chips or the like can beaccurately recognized. In this manner, since which position (player,banker, or pair) of the betting area 8 the chips 9 are wagered on, typesof wagered chips 9 (different amount values are designated to differentcolors of the chips 9), and the number of chips can be recognized, thecontrol device 14 determines by image analysis of a progress of the gamethrough the image analyzing apparatus 12 whether or not collection(indicated by an arrow L) of lost chips wagered by the players 6 andredemption (9W) for wined chips to the winning player 6W are correctlyperformed in accordance with a win or lose result of the game determinedby the card distribution device 3 for each game.

The control device 14 is capable of performing analysis and recognitionof the total amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 of the dealer 5of the gaming table 4 by using the image analyzing apparatus 12 and iscapable of performing comparison calculation according to the win orlose result of the game as to whether or not the total amount of thechips 9 in the chip tray 17 is increased or decreased according to theamount of the collection of the lost chips 9 wagered by the players 6and the redemption (9W) of the winning chips of the winning player 6Wafter the end of the game and the settlement. Although the total amountof the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 are always checked by means of RFIDor the like, whether or not the increased or decreased amount is correctis performed by the control device 14 allowing the image analyzingapparatus 12 to perform image analysis of the progress of the game. Anartificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learningstructure is used for these configurations.

In this example, since fraud or error is detected based on theinformation of the win or lose result of the game, information as towhat position (player, banker, or pair) of the betting area 8 how manyand what type of the chips 9 are wagered on, and the increased/decreasedamount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 after the collection of thelost chips and the redemption for the winning chips 9, fraud or errorcan be detected although the recognition of the movement of the chips 9after the end of the game, that is, the movement of the wagered chips 9toward the player side or the movement toward the dealer side is notperformed.

Herein, for example, in the baccarat, the win or lose result of the gamecan be determined in accordance with the rule of the baccarat by readingthe rank of a card C fed out in the game in the card distribution device3. In addition, the win or lose result of the game can be determined bycapturing an image of the gaming table 4 by using the camera 2,analyzing the image by using the image analyzing apparatus 12, andmatching the analysis result with the game rule by using the controldevice 14. In this case, the camera 2, the image analyzing apparatus 12,and the control device 14 constitute a win/lose result determiningapparatus. Information on the players at each play position 7 andinformation as to what position (player, banker, or pair) of the bettingarea 8 how many and what type of the chips 9 are wagered on can beobtained by capturing an image of the chips 9 placed on the betting area8 by using the camera 2 and analyzing the image at each play position 7by using the image analyzing apparatus 12.

In addition, the increased/decreased amount of the chips 9 in the chiptray 17 before and after the collection of the lost chips 9 and theredemption for the winning chips 9 can be calculated by comparing totalamount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 before the collection of thelost chips 9 and the redemption for the winning chips 9 and the totalamount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 after the collection of thelost chips 9 and the redemption for the winning chips 9. The totalamount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 before the collection of thelost chips 9 and the redemption for the winning chips 9 and the totalamount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 after the collection of thelost chips 9 and the redemption for the winning chips 9 can be detectedby capturing an image of the chip tray 17 containing the chips 9 byusing the camera 2 and analyzing the image by using the image analyzingapparatus 12. In addition, the total amount of the chips 9 contained inthe chip tray 17 may be detected by burying RFIDs representing theamount is in the chips 9 and providing an RFID reader to the chip tray17.

For example, the total amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 beforethe start of the game is denoted by Bb, and the total amount of thechips 9 in the chip tray 17 after the end of the game and the end of thecollection of the lost chips and the redemption of the winning chip isdenoted by Ba. In addition, in the game, the total amount of the entireplay positions 7 in the player area where the chips 9 are wagered isdenoted by bp, the total amount of the entire play positions 7 in thebanker area where the chips 9 are wagered is denoted by bb, and thetotal amount of the entire play positions 7 in the tie area where thechips 9 are wagered is denoted by bt. For example, in the case where thewin or lose result of the game is banker win, Ba−Bb=bp−bb+bt needs to besatisfied. Alternatively, the total amount Ba of the chips 9 in the chiptray 17 after the end of the game needs to be (Bb+bp−bb+bt). In the casewhere the above condition is not satisfied, it may be determined thatfraud or mistake occurs in the collection of the chips or the redemptionfor the chips.

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating details of the chip tray in theembodiment, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating another example of thechip tray. The chip tray 17 is provided with a collection chip tray 171where the chips 9L wagered by the lost player 6L are collected andtemporarily stored and a redemption chip tray 172 where to-be-redeemedchips 9W are stored. The image analyzing apparatus 12 and the controldevice 14 checks the position, type, and number of the chips 9L wageredby the lost player 6L and calculate the increased amount of the chips 0Lin the game (correct amount of the chips 9 in the collection chip tray171). In addition, the image analyzing apparatus 12 and the controldevice 14 checks the actual total amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray171 after the collection and compares the correct total amount and theactual total amount to determine whether or not there is difference.

In addition, the redemption for the chip 9W to the wining player 6W isperformed by using the chips 9 in the redemption chip tray 172, and theimage analyzing apparatus 12 and the control device 14 can secure anenough time to recognize the actual total amount of the chips 9 in thecollection chip tray 171 after the collection.

The gaming table 4 is provided with a discard area 41 and/or a discardslot 42 for discarding the cards C used in the game. When the game isended, the cards C used in the game are collected and discarded in thediscard area 41 or the discard slot 42 on the gaming table 4.

The gaming table 4 is further provided with a marker 43 indicating winor lose of the game. FIG. 4A is a plan diagram illustrating a front sideof the marker, and FIG. 4B is a plan diagram illustrating a back side ofthe marker. In a baccarat game, used are two types of markers, that is,a marker 43 a indicating win of a player and a marker 43 b indicatingwin of the banker. When a result of the game is decided, the dealer 5faces down the marker of the winning side of the player and the banker.Therefore, the win or lose of the game can be easily found on the table.After the end of the collection of the chips 9 and the redemption, thefaced-down maker is returned to the initial state by the dealer 5. Ifthe maker is returned to the initial state, the state denotes that thenext game can be started.

In this manner, in the embodiment, the control device 14 calculatesbalance in chips from the amount of the betting chips on the gamingtable 4 for each game and the win or lose result of the game andverifies the increased amount of the balance of the chips in the chiptray 17 after the game. If the difference is detected in theverification, the control device 14 issues caution or adds the recordindicating this message to the record of the video captured by thecamera 2. A casino manager can investigate the cause of the differenceby checking the video.

In the embodiment, the fraud detection system performsaddition/subtraction calculation of the increased/decreased amount ofthe chips in the game calculated from the position, type, and number ofthe chips 9 wagered by all the players 6 in the game and the win or loseresult of the game obtained from the win/lose result determiningapparatus from the total amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17before the settlement of each game and compares the correct total amountof the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 after the end of the game and thesettlement and the actual total amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray17 at the time of the end of the game obtained through the imageanalyzing apparatus 12 to determine whether or not there is differencebetween the correct total amount and the actual total amount.

The control device 14 recognizes the position, type, and number of thechips wagered by each player through the image analyzing apparatus 12,recognizes the actual total amount of the chips in the chip tray at thetime when the collection of all the amount of the lost chips wagered byeach player is ended, compares the correct total amount of the chips 9in the chip tray 17 added with the increased amount of the chips in thechip tray 17 in the game from the position, type, and number of thechips wagered by the lost player from the total amount of the chips inthe chip tray before the settlement of each game and the actual totalamount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 to determine whether or notthere is difference between the correct total amount and the actualtotal amount.

In the case where the control device 14 compares the correct totalamount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 added with the increasedamount of the chips in the chip tray 17 in the game from the position,type, and number of the chips 9 wagered by the lost player from thetotal amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 before the settlement ofeach game and the actual total amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17and determines that there is no difference between the correct totalamount and the actual total amount and the control device compares thecorrect total amount of the chips in the chip tray 17 after the end ofthe game and the settlement and the actual total amount of the chips 9in the chip tray 17 obtained through the image analyzing apparatus 12 atthe time of the end of the game and determines that there is differencebetween the correct total amount and the actual total amount, thecontrol device determines a mistake in payment and generates a paymentmistake signal indicating the mistake in payment.

The chip tray 17 is provided with a collection chip tray 171 where thechips 9 wagered by the lost player are collected and temporarily stored.The image analyzing apparatus 12 compares the correct total amount ofthe chips 9 in the collection chip tray 171 added with the increasedamount of the chips 9 in the game calculated from the position, type,and number of the chips 9L wagered by the lost player and the actualtotal amount of the chips 9 in the collection chip tray 171 to determinewhether or not there is difference between the correct total amount andthe actual total amount.

When the control device 14 determines that there is difference that therecognized actual total amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 of thedealer 5 of the gaming table 4 does not match with theincreased/decreased amount of the chips calculated from the amount ofthe chips wagered by all the players and the win or lose result of thegame, the game recording apparatus 11 may allocate indexes or timepoints to the acquired images or may reproduce the images specified witha collection scene or a redemption scene of the chips 9 so that therecord of the game where the difference occurs can be analyzed in thegame recording apparatus 11.

In this manner, the control device 14 acquires the total amount of thechips in the chip tray 17 after the end of the game and the settlementthrough the image analyzing apparatus 12, and in this case, thedetermination after the settlement is performed at any one of thetimes 1) to 4): 1) The time when redemption for the winning chips 9 isended; 2) The time when the cards C used in the game are collected to bediscarded into a discard area 41 or a discard slot 42 of the table; 3)The time when a predetermined button attached to the win/lose resultdetermining apparatus is pushed; and 4) The time when a marker 43representing win or lose is returned to an initial state.

In addition, the control device 14 has an artificial intelligenceutilizing type structure or a deep learning structure capable ofextracting a strange situation (set by the casino side) by recognizingthe position (position of player, banker, or pair wagered) and amount(type and number) of the chips wagered on each play position 7 of thegaming table 4, comparing the history of win and lose of each player 6obtained from win or lose result of each game and the amount of theacquired chips (winning amount) and the statistical data of a largenumber of previous games (big data). Typically, the control device 14has an artificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deeplearning structure, where, in the case where an winning amount of acertain amount (one million dollars) or more occurs and the state thatthe amount of betting chips at the lose time is small and the amount ofbetting chips at the win time is large at a play position 7 of a certaingaming table 4 continues several games, the state can be extracted as astrange situation by comparing the state and the statistical data (bigdata or the like) of previous games.

In addition, the control device 14 (integrated with the image analyzingapparatus 12) of the fraud detection system has a structure capable ofextracting a strange situation or specifying individual player 6 at theplay position 7 which the player wins a predetermined amount or more.With respect to the specifying of the player 6, in the image analyzingapparatus 12, an image of a face is obtained by extraction of featurepoints, and identification number (ID) is provided to specify theplayer. In addition, the control device 14 has a caution function ofinforming about the existence of the specified player in another gamingtable when the specified player 6 departs and arrives at the othergaming table. More specifically, a pit manger managing each gaming table4 or each table manager (or a dealer) is informed, so that the strangesituation can be further prevented.

In addition, control device 14 is provided with database storing historyof exchange of cash K and the chips 9. By referring to the database inunit of a predetermined time or a day, the control device performscomparison determination as to whether or not the recognized amount ofthe chips 9 in the chip tray 17 of the dealer 5 of the gaming table 4 isincreased or decreased according to the paid amount of the chips 9corresponding to the exchanged cash K or the total amount of the paidamount of the cash K corresponding to the exchanged chips 9.

In addition, in the above-described example, the history of win and loseand the amount of the acquired chips (winning amount) for each playposition 7 may be surveiled without specifying individual player 6. Inthis case, if each player 6 leaves the seat, the player 6 cannot betracked. However, the strange situation where the amount of bettingchips at the lose time at the specified play position 7 of one gametable 4 is small and the state that the amount of betting chips at thewin time is large continues for several games can be detected. Next, inthe case where such a play position 7 is detected, it is suspected thatthere is fraud or error at the play position 7. Next, by verifying thevideo obtained by capturing an image of the play position 7, the fraudor error can be found.

More specifically, the camera 2 is installed to capture at least animage of the chips 9 placed on the betting area 8 of the gaming table 4.The image analyzing apparatus 12 analyzes the image captured by thecamera 2 to detect which of the positions “player,” “banker,” and “tie”of the betting area 8 the chips are placed on for each user position 7and the amount of the placed chips. In addition, the card distributiondevice 3 also functions as a win/lose result determining apparatus todetermine the win or lose result of the game. The control device 14records (surveils) the history of win and lose and the amount of theacquired chips (acquired amount of chips) for each play position 7 basedon the position (player, banker, or tie) of the betting area 8 on whichthe chips 9 are placed and the win or lose result of the game. Inaddition, any one of the history of win and lose and the acquired amountof chips may be recorded. In the case of a strange situation (set by thecasino side) that the history of win and lose and/or the history of theacquired amount of chips are strange in comparison with the statisticaldata of a large number of previous games (big data), the control device14 specifies the player position 7 as a play position where fraud issuspected to occur.

In the case where fraud is suspected to occur at a certain playerposition 7, the fraud detection system may generate alarm (light, sound,or vibration) so that at least dealer can perceive at this time.Therefore, at least at this moment, by stopping the subsequent game orthe like, it is possible to prevent the fraud from continuouslyoccurring. In addition, information indicating that fraud is suspectedto occur may be added to the image captured and recorded by the camera2. Therefore, by checking video, it is possible to find a cause of thesuspicion of the fraud.

The fraud detection system in the casino having the gaming tableaccording to the embodiment further has a function of performinginspection at the time of exchange of cash and chips which is frequentlyperformed in the gaming table 4. In the casino such as a casino, beforea game, the player 6 exchanges money (cash or the like) and gaming chipsat a predetermined cashier cage. When the player 6 spends all chips, theplayer may exchange cash and chips 9 on the gaming table (baccarat tableor the like) to continuously do the game without leaving the seat fromthe gaming table 4. However, at the point, there is a chance of fraudbetween the dealer 5 and the player. On the gaming table (baccarat tableor the like), the exchange of the cash and the chip 9 needs to beperformed when the game is not in progress. In order to determine thewin or lose of the game, the card distribution device 3 can detect carddealing start and dealing end (time of determining the win or lose).Therefore, the card distribution device 3 detects a situation other thancard distributing (dealing), and the control device 14 detects theexchange of the cash and the chips 9 in the gaming table 4 in thesituation other than the card dealing (illustrated in FIG. 6). The carddealing (or the situation other than the card dealing) can be detectedby the card distribution device 3 or based on the information obtainedfrom the behavior of the dealer 5.

The control device 14 can recognize the number and amount of cash K byperforming the image analysis on the surface of the cash. In addition,in the gaming table 4, whether or not the cash K in exchange for thechips 9 is genuine is performed by irradiating the cash with black lightto detect a genuine mark G of the cash. As illustrated in FIG. 6, thecontrol device 14 has an artificial intelligence utilizing typestructure or a deep learning structure capable of verifying the genuinemark G through the image analysis, recognizing the total amount of thegenuine cash, recognizing the total amount of the chips even in thestate that a plurality of chips as an exchange object placed on thegaming table are concealed due to a blind spot of the camera 2, andcomparing the total amount of the cash K placed on the gaming table 4 bythe player and the total amount of the chips 9 placed by the dealer 5 todetermine whether or not the two amounts match with each other.

The control device 14 has an artificial intelligence utilizing typestructure or a deep learning structure capable of performing comparisoncalculation as to whether or not the total amount of the chips 9 in thechip tray 17 of the dealer 5 of the gaming table 4 is increased ordecreased according to the paid amount of the chips corresponding to theexchanged cash after the exchange of cash and chips and the settlement.The case where the total amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 ofthe dealer 5 is always checked by the RFID or the like of the chips 9 inadvance may be considered. In addition, the total amount of the chips 9contained in the chip tray 17 can be detected by capturing an image ofthe chip tray 17 containing the chips 9 by using the camera 2 andanalyzing the image by using the image analyzing apparatus 12.

In addition, the control device 14 verifies match between the increaseor decrease of the amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 and theexchanged amount of the chips according to the result of the imageanalysis of the gaming table 4 before and after the exchange of cash andchips. The paid amount of the cash may be input to the control device 14by the dealer 5 through key input or the like. The paid amount of thecash may be specified by the camera 2 capturing an image of the gamingtable 4 where the cash is being paid and by the image analyzingapparatus 12 analyzing the image.

As described above, the control device 14 determines whether or not thedecreased amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 due to the exchangeof cash and chips matches with the amount of the cash paid to the dealer5 by the player 6. In addition, the control device 14 is an intelligencecontrol device and has an artificial intelligence utilizing typestructure or a deep learning structure capable of performing comparisoncalculation of match or mismatch between the input amount (typically,obtained by key input or the like) of the cash by the dealer 5 and thecalculated amount of the cash obtained from the result of the imageanalysis by the image analyzing apparatus 12 after the exchange of cashand chips and the settlement.

In addition, the control device 14 has an artificial intelligenceutilizing type structure or a deep learning structure capable ofperforming comparison calculation of match or mismatch between the totalinput amount of the cash according to the input by the dealer in thegaming table 4 for which the dealer is responsible and the total amountof the cash according to the result of the image analysis by the imageanalyzing apparatus 12.

The control device 14 performs comparison determination as to whether ornot the recognized amount of the chips 9 in the chip tray 17 of thedealer 5 of the gaming table 4 is increased or decreased according tothe paid amount of the chips 9 corresponding to the exchanged cash orthe paid amount of the cash corresponding to the exchanged chips 9 afterthe exchange of the cash and the chips 9.

Among many table games played in a casino such as a casino, there arebaccarat and blackjack. In such a game, a standard deck of 52 playingcards is used, the playing cards are distributed on the game table froma card distribution device including a plurality of decks (six to ninedecks or ten decks) which are shuffled in advance, and win or lose isdetermined according to the number of distributed cards and a game rule.

The distribution of the cards from the card distribution device and thesettlement of betting money to a player (game participant) are performedby a dealer or the like who is responsible for the gaming table. In acasino such as a casino, prevention of error or fraud in the settlementof the betting money for the player (game participant) is attempted.

WO 2015/107902 A discloses a card game monitoring system of readingmovement of chips by using a surveillance camera and checking whether ornot betting money is paid to a winner.

In a baccarat or a blackjack, there are problems in that, in the bettingby a player or in the settlement for betting money to the player (gameparticipant) by the dealer, timing of performing the betting and thesettlement, who places the chips, or who takes the chips cannot bedetected, and thus, whether or not these are correct cannot berecognized.

In order to solve the above-described problems, according to the secondembodiment, a fraud detection system in a casino including a gamingtable includes a game monitoring device which monitors a progress of agame played on the gaming table by using a camera, an image analyzingapparatus which performs image analysis on an image obtained from thecamera, a card distribution device which determines a win or lose resultof each game in the game table, and a control device which specifiespositions of chips placed on the gaming table by game participants byusing a result of the analysis of the image analyzing apparatus in eachgame and determines a winner and losers among the participants of eachgame by using the win or lose result, and the control device furtherincludes a function of determining at least one of: 1) whether or notthere is movement of chips during the time interval from the start ofextraction of cards or from the game start operation of the dealerbefore the win or lose result of the game is displayed by the carddistribution device in each game; 2) whether or not there is movement ofchips by a person other than the dealer during the time interval whenthe dealer collects chips wagered by the losers among the gameparticipants after the end of each game; 3) whether or not a chip isadded during the time interval when the dealer collects chips wagered bythe losers among the game participants after the end of each game; 4)whether or not the dealer performs payment for a position of chipswagered by the winner among the game participants after the end of eachgame; and 5) whether or not the winner among the game participantsreceives wagered chips and paid chips after the end of each game.

In addition, the control device may be configured so as to determine atleast one of the aforementioned 1) to 5) by detecting movement of handsof the dealer and the game participants, movement of the chips, or themovement of hands and the movement of chips by using the result of theanalysis of the image analyzing apparatus.

In addition, the control device may be configured so as to determinewhether or not the amount of chips paid to the winner by the dealer iscorrect in accordance with the amount wagered by the winner among thegame participants.

In addition, the fraud detection system of the game may be furtherprovided with a monitor or lamp which receives the determination resultand performs caution or display.

According to the fraud detection system of the embodiment, in a baccarator a blackjack, in the betting by the player or in the settlement forbetting money to the player (game participant) by the dealer, timing ofperforming the betting and the settlement, who places the chips, or whotakes the chips can be detected, so that such an error or fraud isdetected, a caution of the error or fraud is issued or the error orfraud is displayed, and the recurrence there can be prevented.

Before the embodiment is described in detail, a flow of a baccarat gameplayed in a casino such as a casino will be described. In addition, inthe second embodiment, the same components as those of the firstembodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As described in FIG. 7, in the gaming table 4, the players (gameparticipants) 6 take seats at the play positions 7 to face the dealer 5.The player (game participant) 6 performs wagering (hereinafter, referredto “betting”) as to who of the player and the banker wins or whether theplayer and the banker ties as a win or lose result of the baccarat gameby placing the chips 9 on the betting area 8 in front of the player'seyes. The dealer 5 counts time in order to end the betting by theplayers (game participants) 6 and calls “No More Bet (end of receivingthe betting)” while moving the hand in the transverse direction (thestate illustrated in FIG. 7). In the baccarat game, during the timeinterval from the time when the “No More Bet (end of receiving thebetting)” is called and card extraction is started or the dealer 5performs the game start operation before the win or lose result of thegame is displayed by the card distribution device 3, the players (gameparticipants) 6 are cannot operate chips, wager additional chips, orrecover the chips which have been wagered once.

After that, the playing cards 1 are extracted one by one from the carddistribution device 3 on the gaming table 4 in the state that the backside is faced up. First, four cards are extracted, as illustrated in (1)to (4) of FIG. 7, the first card goes to the hand of “player,” thesecond card goes to the hand of “banker,” the third card goes to thehand of “player,” and the fourth card goes to the hand of “banker.”These cards are arranged to be distributed to areas 10 (player area 10Pand banker area 10B) on the gaming table 4 in the front side as viewedfrom the dealer 5. Next, according to the ranks (numbers) of the firstto fourth cards 1 and the condition in the detailed rule of the baccaratgame, the fifth card 1 and the sixth card 1 are extracted by the dealer5, and these cards go to the hand of “player” or “banker.” Next,according to the ranks (numbers) of the first to fourth cards 1 (in somecase, the fifth and sixth cards are combined) and the detailed rule ofthe baccarat game, the win or lose of the game is determined. Herein, agame rule is programmed in the card distribution device 3, and the carddistribution device has a structure where the win or lose of the gamecan be determined by reading information (ranks (numbers) or suits) ofthe cards 1 distributed. It is determined whether or not the win/losedetermination result (win or lose result) determined by the carddistribution device 3 matches with the win or lose result determined bythe dealer or the like as described above.

Hereinafter, an overview of the fraud detection system for the game inthe embodiment of the invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagramillustrating the overview of the system. The fraud detection system forthe game in the casino is configured to include a game recordingapparatus 11 which records a progress of the game played in the gamingtable 4 including a player (game participant) 6 and the dealer 5 as animage through cameras 2, an image analyzing apparatus 12 which performsimage analysis on the recorded image of the progress of the game, and acard distribution device 3 which has a function of determining a win orlose result of each game in the gaming table 4 and displaying the win orlose result. The card distribution device 3 is a so-called electronicshoe used by the skilled in the art and has a structure where a gamerule is programmed in advance, the timing that the cards 1 aredistributed by the dealer 5 at the initial time of each game is sensed,and the win or lose of the game can be determined by reading information(rank (number) or suit) of each card 1 distributed. For example, in abaccarat game, banker win, player win, or tie is basically determined bya rank of two or three cards, and a determination result (win or loseresult) is displayed by a display lamp 13.

The control device 14 of the fraud detection system has a chip detectingfunction of specifying which of the betting areas 8 of the player sideand the banker side on the gaming table 4 the players 6 (gameparticipants) wager the chips 9 on by using the result of the analysisof the image analyzing apparatus 12 in each game. It is assumed that,when the chips 9 are overlapped in a deviated manner or are in a blindspot from the position of the camera 2, the position and total amount ofthe chips 9 (which of the betting areas 8 of the player side and thebanker side the chips 9 are wagered on) cannot be read normally. Thecontrol device 14 is configured to be capable of recognizing concealingor the like (including concealing of a portion of one chip andconcealing of the entire chip) of the chip 9 caused by the blind spot,so that the number of chips or the like can be accurately recognized byusing a self-learning function or the like according to an existingartificial intelligence utilizing type computer or control system anddeep learning (structure) technique. In addition, the structure ofdetecting the position and type of the chip 9 in the betting area 8 isnot limited thereto, but for example, the structure may be configured sothat the position and the type can be detected by reading the ID buriedin the chip.

As described heretofore, the control device 14 can recognize, throughthe camera 2 and the image analyzing apparatus 12, the position(position of player, banker, or pair wagered) on which each player 6wagers the chips 9 and the type (different amount values are designatedto different colors of the chips 9) and number of the chips 9, and thecontrol device can detect who is the player 6 betting on the “player”(in the case where there are a plurality of the players 6 betting on the“player,” who is the player 6 wagering the highest amount) and who isthe player 6 betting on the “banker” (in the case where there are aplurality of the players 6 betting on the “banker,” who is the player 6wagering the highest amount). In this fraud detection system, each ofthe image analyzing apparatus 12 and the control device 14 has astructure including a computer configured with an integrated or pluralcomponents, a program, and a memory in a complex manner.

The control device 14 has a structure capable of determining match ormismatch by checking information on rank and suit obtained from theimage (captured by using the camera 2) of each card 1 distributed in thegaming table 4 by the image analyzing apparatus 12 and information onrank and suit read by the card distribution device 3. The control device14 determines by image analysis of a progress of the game through theimage analyzing apparatus 12 according to the win or lose result of thegame determined by the card distribution device 3 for each game whetheror not the collection of the lost chips 9 wagered by the players (gameparticipants) 6 and the redemption of the winning chips to the winningplayer (game participant) 6 are correctly performed in accordance withthe win or lose result.

As remarkable functions of the invention, the control device 14 hasfunctions described in the following 1) to 5) according to the rule ofthe baccarat game and determines whether or not fraud in discordancewith the rule is performed. Namely, the functions are as follows:

1) Whether or not there is movement of the chips 9 is surveiled by theinformation obtained the image analyzing apparatus 12 using the camera 2during the time interval from the signal starting the card extractionobtained from the card distribution device 3 or from the game startoperation of the dealer 5 pushing a start button 4 s before the win orlose result of the game is displayed by the card distribution device 3in each game (illustrated in FIG. 8).

2) Whether or not the loser 6 takes the chips 9 fraudulently issurveiled by the information obtained the image analyzing apparatus 12using the camera 2 during the time interval when the dealer 5 collectsthe chips 9 wagered by the loser among the game participants 6 after theend of each game (illustrated in FIG. 9).

3) Whether or not a person (winner or loser) other than the dealer 5adds the winning chips 9W or newly places the chips 9 on the winningside which the person did not wager chips on is surveiled by theinformation obtained the image analyzing apparatus 12 using the camera 2during the time interval when the dealer 5 collects the chips 9 wageredby the loser among the game participants 6 after the end of each game.

4) Whether or not the dealer 5 correctly places the paid chips 9W on theposition of the chips 9 wagered by the winner among the gameparticipants 6 (illustrated in FIG. 10) is surveiled by the informationobtained the image analyzing apparatus 12 using the camera 2 after theend of each game.

5) Whether or not the winner 6W among the game participants 6 takes thewagered chips 9 and the paid chips 9W (illustrated in FIG. 11) issurveiled by the information obtained the image analyzing apparatus 12using the camera 2 after the end of each game (the dealer 5 manipulatesthe card distribution device 3 to allow the display lamp 13 to displaythe win or lose result).

The control device 14 performs analysis of the information obtained byusing the camera 2 by the image analyzing apparatus 12. Namely, althoughthe above-described surveillance of from 1) to 5) is performed bydetecting the movement of the hands of the dealer 5 and the gameparticipant 6, the movement of the chips, or the movement of the handsand the movement of the chips by the using the analysis result of theimage analyzing apparatus 12, in a fundamental analysis, it needs to befound at least who the chips 9 is taken to. Hereinafter, a method of theanalysis will be described with reference to FIGS. 12A to 12C and 13.

The chips 9 wagered by the game participant 6L losing the game arecollected by the dealer 5. Whether or not the collection is accuratelyperformed is surveiled by analyzing the information obtained by usingthe camera 2 in the image analyzing apparatus 12. First, a change fromthe state (FIG. 12A) that the betting chips 9 exist to the state (FIG.12C) that the chips do not exist is detected by the image analysis.Next, an image (FIG. 12B) between the state that the chips 9 exist andthe state that the chips do not exist is analyzed. In the image (FIG.12B) between the state that the chips 9 exist and the state that thechips do not exist, which side the hand 5 h reaches from (from the topside of FIG. 12 or the others) is analyzed. Fraud is detected inaccordance with a rule, that is, in the case where the hand reaches fromthe top side (the hand movement, that is, the hand appears from the topside or the hand leaves toward the top side), the hand 5 h is determinedas the hand of the dealer 5, and in the case where the hand reaches fromthe other directions, the hand movement is determined as fraud.

While the dealer 5 collects the chips 9 wagered by the game participant6L losing the game, it is surveiled whether or not another person takesthe lost chips 9 fraudulently (FIGS. 12 and 13). In the image betweenthe state that the chips 9 exist and the state that the chips do notexist, as illustrated in FIG. 12, through analyzing the movement of theloser 6L and the like among the game participants 6, it is detected bythe image analysis that the hand 6 h reaches or moves from the bottomside of FIG. 12 (actually, from the top side), and the movement isdetermined that the hand 6 h or the like other than the hand of thedealer 5 takes the chips 9, so that it is determined that fraud occurs.

First, with respect to the winning chips illustrated in FIG. 14A, thechips 9W are redeemed in accordance with the game rule as illustrated inFIG. 14B. A change from the state illustrated in FIG. 14A to the stateillustrated in FIG. 14B is detected, and at the same time, whether ornot the hand is the hand 5 h of the dealer 5 is detected by the imageanalysis. After that, as illustrated in FIG. 14C, now, whether or notthe hand 6 h of the winner 6W among the game participants 6 reaches(moves) the same betting area and, after that, all the chips 9 do notexist (state of FIG. 14D) is verified from the image analysis result inaccordance with the game rule by the control device 14, so that it isdetermined whether or not fraud occurs.

In addition, the control device 14 is configured to determine whether ornot the amount of chips redeemed to the winner by the dealer 5 iscorrect according to the amount wagered by the winner 6W among the gameparticipants 6. Hereinafter, a specific example thereof is described. Itis assumed that, when the chips 9 are overlapped in a deviated manner orare in a blind spot from the position of the camera 2, the position andtotal amount of the chips 9 (which of the betting areas 8 of the playerside and the banker side the chips 9 are wagered on) cannot be readnormally. The control device 14 is configured to be capable ofrecognizing concealing or the like (including concealing of a portion ofone chip and concealing of the entire chip) of the chip 9 caused by theblind spot, so that the number of chips or the like can be accuratelyrecognized by using a self-learning function or the like according to anexisting artificial intelligence utilizing type computer or controlsystem and deep learning (structure) technique. In addition, thestructure of detecting the position and type of the chip 9 in thebetting area 8 is not limited thereto, but for example, the structuremay be configured so that the position and the type can be detected byreading the ID buried in the chip.

As described heretofore, the control device 14 can recognize, throughthe camera 2 and the image analyzing apparatus 12, the position 8(position of player, banker, or pair wagered) on which each player 6wagers the chips 9 and the type (different amount values are designatedto different colors of the chips 9) and the number of the chips, and thecontrol device can detect who is the player 6 betting on the “player”(in the case where there are a plurality of the players 6 betting on the“player,” who is the player 6 wagering the highest amount) and who isthe player 6 betting on the “banker” (in the case where there are aplurality of the players 6 betting on the “banker,” who is the player 6wagering the highest amount).

In addition, the control device 14 of the fraud detection system in thegame analyze the information obtained by the image analyzing apparatus12 using the camera 2 by the above-described method in accordance withthe rule of the baccarat game and performs surveillance. By performingthe surveillance illustrated in the above-described 1) to 5), it isdetermined whether or not fraud in discordance with the rule isperformed. When fraud is detected, a card distribution sensing device14C turns on abnormality display lamps 16 provided to both of the carddistribution device 3 and the gaming table 4 and outputs 15 the frauddetection to a casino management department or the like in a wireless orwired manner. A monitor or a lamp which receives the determinationresult to perform caution or display may be further provided to anothersite.

As described heretofore, the fraud is detected by the control device 14,and, at the detecting time or a proper timing, a display signal isoutput to the display lamp 13 of the card distribution device 3 or theabnormality display lamp 16. However, besides the performing of caution,after the time when the fraud or error is detected, a card distributionpreventing function of the card distribution device 3 may be performedto prevent the distribution of the cards 1.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the card distribution device 3 used in atable game system according to the invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 15 to 19. The card distribution device 3 isconfigured to include a card containing portion 102 which contains aplurality of shuffle playing cards 1 s, a card guiding portion 105 whichguides the shuffle playing card 1 when the dealer 5 or the like manuallyextracts the shuffle playing card 1 one by one from the card containingportion 102 toward the gaming table 4, an opening portion 106 for takingthe card 1 guided from the card guiding portion 105, a card detectingunit (card detecting sensors 22 and 23) which detects that the shuffleplaying card 1 is extracted when the shuffle playing card 1 isextracted, a card reading unit 108 which reads information representingat least the number (rank) of the shuffle playing card 1, a control unit109 which determines the win or lose of the card game based on thenumbers (ranks) of the shuffle playing cards 1 sequentially read by thecard reading unit 108, a result display lamp 13 which displays the winor lose result determined by the control unit 109, a distributionrestricting device 30 which is provided to the opening portion 106 andrestricts entering and exiting of the card 1 from the card containingportion 102, and a management control unit 114 having functionsequivalent to the control device 14, and these components areintegrated. The card distribution device has a function where, in thecase where error or fraud of the dealer in the game is detected by thecontrol device 14, the further extraction of the card from the carddistribution device 3 is stopped after the time of the detection or at apredetermined timing.

Next, the distribution restricting device 30 which restricts theentering and exiting of the cards 1 from the card containing portion 102will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18A. The distributionrestricting device 30 is provided to a card guide 107 of the cardguiding portion 105 which guides the card 1 extracted one by one fromthe opening portion 106 in the front side of the card containing portion102 onto the gaming table 4. The distribution restricting device 30 hasa structure where, when the card 1 passes through a slot 33 between thecard guiding portion 105 and the guide cover of the card guide 107, alock member 34 presses the card 1 to prevent the entering and exiting ofthe card 1 in the slot 33. The lock member 34 is moved by a driving unit35 such as an electronic solenoid or a piezoelectric device asillustrated by an arrow m so as to take two states of a position(limiting position) of pressing the card 1 and a pass enabling positionof enabling the card 1 to pass. The driving unit 35 is controlled by acontrol unit 109 which is directly or indirectly connected to thecontrol device 14 in a wired or wireless manner to move the lock member34 to the two states of the position of pressing the card 1 and the passenabling position of enabling the card 1 to pass. The rule of thebaccarat game is programed and stored in advance in the control unit109.

Next, a modified example of the distribution restricting device 30 willbe described with reference to FIG. 18B. In the modified example, thedistribution restricting device 40 has a structure where, when the card1 passes through the slot 33 between the card guiding portion 105 andthe card guide 107 (guide cover), the lock member 36 projects into theslot 33 to prevent the movement of the card 1. The lock member 36 ismoved by a driving unit 37 such as an electronic solenoid or apiezoelectric device as illustrated by an arrow m so as to take twostates of a position (limiting position) of preventing the movement ofthe card 1 and a pass enabling position of enabling the card 1 to pass.The driving unit 37 is controlled by the control unit 109 which isconnected to the control device 14 to move the lock member 36 to the twostates of the position of preventing the movement of the card 1 and thepass enabling position of enabling the card 1 to pass.

Next, details of the code reading unit 108 which reads a code 52representing a digit (number, rank) of the card 1 from the card 1 whenthe card 1 is manually extracted from the card containing portion 102will be described. FIG. 17 is a plan diagram illustrating maincomponents of the card distribution device 3. In the figure, the codereading unit 108 is provided to the card guiding portion 105 whichguides the card 1 manually extracted one by one from the opening portion106 in the front side of the card containing portion 102 onto the gamingtable 4. The card guiding portion 105 is formed to have a slantedsurface, and the card guides 107 functioning as a sensor cover areprovided to two edges of the card guiding portion. In addition, each ofthe two card guides 107 is formed detachable by using a screw or thelike (not shown). If the card guides 107 are detached, sensor groups 115of the code reading unit 108 are exposed. The sensor group 115 isconfigured with four sensors including two UV-ray sensitive sensors (UVsensors) 20 and 21 and object detection sensors 22 and 23.

The object detection sensors 22 and 23 are optical-fiber type sensors ofdetecting the existence of the card 1 and can detect the movement of thecard 1. One object detection sensor 22 is located at the upstream sideof the card guiding portion 105 in the card 1 flowing direction, and theother object detection sensor 23 is located at the downstream side. Asillustrated in the figure, the two object detection sensors 22 and 23are provided at the respective upstream and downstream sides tointerpose the UV sensors 20 and 21. The UV sensors 20 and 21 have LEDs(UV LEDs) emitting a UV ray and sensors. A mark M of the code 52 isprinted on the card 1 by using UV ray emitting ink which exhibits colorif the ink is hit by the UV ray. By irradiating the card 1 with the UVray (black light), reflected light of the mark M of the code 52 of thecard 1 is sensed by the sensor. The UV sensors 20 and 21 are connectedto the code reading unit 108 and the control unit 109 through cables. Inthe code reading unit 108, a combination of the marks M is determinedand the number (rank) corresponding to each code 52 is determined fromthe output signal of the sensors, that is, the UV sensors 20 and 21.

In the code reading unit 108, starting and ending of the UV sensors 20and 21 are controlled by the control unit 109 based on the detectionsignals of the object detection sensors 22 and 23. In addition, thecontrol unit 109 determines based on the detection signals of the objectdetection sensors 22 and 23 whether or not the card 1 passes through thecard guiding portion 105 normally. As illustrated in FIG. 19, two rowsand four columns of the rectangular marks M representing the rank(number) and suit (heart, spade, or the like) of the card are arrangedin the edge of the card 1. If the UV sensors 20 and 21 sense the mark M,the sensors output “on” signals. The code reading unit 108 determines arelative relationship between the two signals input from the two UVsensors 20 and 21. Therefore, the code reading unit 108 specifies thecode according to a relative difference between the two marks M sensedby the two UV sensors 20 and 21 to specify the number (rank) and type(suit) of the corresponding card 1.

The relationship between the code 52 and the outputs of the “on” signalsof the two UV sensors 20 and 21 is illustrated in FIG. 19. Based on theresult of comparison of the relative change of the outputs of the “on”signals of the UV sensors 20 and 21, a predetermined combination of themarks M can be specified. As a result, four combinations of the marks Mof the up and down two columns are obtained, and if the fourcombinations are printed in four columns, 4 to the 4th power, that is,256 types of codes can be configured. By assigning 52 types of cards ofthe playing cards to 256 types of the codes, details of the assignmentis stored as a comparison table in a memory or as a program, and thecode reading unit 108 is configured so that, by specifying each code 52,the number (rank) and type (suit) of the card 1 is specified from apre-defined comparison table (not shown). In addition, since the 256types of the codes are stored in the comparison table in a manner thatthe codes are freely combined to be in association with the 52 types ofthe cards, the combinations may be complicated, and thus, thecombinations of the 256 types of the codes and the 52 types of the cardcan be changed according to time and location. It is preferable that thecode is printed by using a paint which is visualized by being irradiatedwith UV light and the code is printed at a position where the codes donot overlap a type indicator or index 103 of the card.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, although the imageanalyzing apparatus 12 or the control device 14 is a device having anartificial intelligence utilizing type structure or a deep learningstructure, specifically, the image analyzing apparatus 12 or the controldevice 14 may perform image analysis or the above-described variouscontrols by using scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) algorithm,convolution neutral network (CNN), deep learning, machine learning, orthe like. Such a technique is a technique of performing imagerecognition on a captured image to recognize an object included in theimage. Particularly, in recent years, object recognition at highaccuracy is performed by using a deep learning technique utilizing amultilayered neutral network. In the deep learning technique, generally,layers covering multiple stages are overlapped in intermediate layersbetween an input layer and an output layer of the neutral network, sothat the object is recognized at high accuracy. In the deep learningtechnique, particularly, a convolution neutral network has drawnattention because the convolution neutral network has higher performancethan the object recognition based on image feature amounts in therelated art.

In the convolution neutral network, recognition object images attachedwith label are learned, and main objects included in the recognitionobject image are recognized. In the case where a plurality of the mainobjects exist in the learned image, an area rectangle is specified, andthe image corresponding to the specified area is attached with a labeland the learning is performed. In addition, in the convolution neutralnetwork, the main objects in the image and the positions of the objectscan also be determined.

As the convolution neutral network is described more in detail, in theobject recognition process, edge extraction process and the like isperformed on the recognition object image, candidate areas are extractedbased on localized features, the candidate areas are input to theconvolution neutral network to extract feature vectors, classificationis performed, and the candidate area having the highest degree ofcertainty among the classified candidate areas is acquired as a resultof the recognition. The degree of certainty is a quantity representinghow higher a degree of similarity between a certain image area and asubject of the image learned together with the label is than the degreeof similarity of another class.

In addition, devices having an artificial intelligence utilizing typestructure or a deep learning structure are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.9,361,577, US 2016/171336, US 2015/036920, JP 2016-110232, and thesedisclosures are incorporated into this specification by reference.

Heretofore, although various embodiments of the invention are described,the above-described embodiments can be modified within the scope of theinvention by the skilled in the art, and if needed in a game to whichthe embodiment is applied, the apparatus according to the embodiment maybe appropriately modified.

The following inventions are disclosed by the above embodiments.

(1) A fraud detection system in a casino having a plurality of gamingtables, comprising: a game recording apparatus which records a progressof a game played in the gaming table as an image; an image analyzingapparatus which performs image analysis on the image of the recordedprogress of the game; a win/lose result determining apparatus whichdetermines a win or lose result of each game in the gaming table; and acontrol device which detects fraud practiced in the gaming table byusing a result of the image analysis by the image analyzing apparatusand the win or lose result determined by the win/lose result determiningapparatus, wherein the control device recognizes a position, type, andnumber of the chips wagered by each player through the image analyzingapparatus and recognizes a total amount of chips in a chip tray of adealer of the gaming table, performs addition/subtraction calculation ofan increased/decreased amount of the chips in the game calculated fromthe position, type, and number of the chips wagered by all the playersin the game and the win or lose result of the game obtained from thewin/lose result determining apparatus from the total amount of the chipsin the chip tray before the settlement of each game and compares acorrect total amount of the chips in the chip tray after end of the gameand settlement and an actual total amount of the chips in the chip trayat the time of the end of the game obtained through the image analyzingapparatus to determine whether or not there is difference between thecorrect total amount and the actual total amount.

(2) The fraud detection system according to (1), wherein the controldevice recognizes the position, type, and number of the chips wagered byeach player through the image analyzing apparatus, recognizes the actualtotal amount of the chips in the chip tray at the time when thecollection of all the amount of the lost chips wagered by each player isended, and compares the correct total amount of the chips in the chiptray added with the increased amount of the chips in the chip tray inthe game from the position, type, and number of the chips wagered by thelost player from the total amount of the chips in the chip tray beforethe settlement of each game and the actual total amount of the chips inthe chip tray to determine whether or not there is difference betweenthe correct total amount and the actual total amount.

(3) The fraud detection system according to (2), wherein, in the casewhere the control device compares the correct total amount of the chipsin the chip tray added with the increased amount of the chips in thechip tray in the game from the position, type, and number of the chipswagered by the lost player from the total amount of the chips in thechip tray before the settlement of each game and the actual total amountof the chips in the chip tray and determines that there is no differencebetween the correct total amount and the actual total amount and thecontrol device compares the correct total amount of the chips in thechip tray after the end of the game and the settlement and the actualtotal amount of the chips in the chip tray obtained through the imageanalyzing apparatus at the time of the end of the game and determinesthat there is difference between the correct total amount and the actualtotal amount, the control device determines a mistake in payment andgenerates a payment mistake signal indicating the mistake in payment.

(4) The fraud detection system according to (2), wherein the chip trayis provided with a collection chip tray where the chips wagered by thelost player are collected and temporarily stored, and the imageanalyzing apparatus and the control device compare the correct amount ofchips in the collection chip tray calculated from the position, type,and number of the chips wagered by the lost player and the actual totalamount of the chips in the collection chip tray to determine whether ornot there is difference between the correct total amount in thecollection chip tray and the actual total amount.

(5) The fraud detection system according to (1), wherein acquisition ofthe actual total amount of the chips in the chip tray after the end ofthe game and the settlement through the image analyzing apparatus isperformed any one of: 1) the time when redemption for the winning chipsis ended; 2) the time when the cards used in the game are collected tobe discarded into a discard area of the table; 3) the time when apredetermined button attached to the win/lose result determiningapparatus is pushed; and 4) the time when a marker representing win orlose is returned to an initial state.

(6) The fraud detection system according to any one of (1) to (3),wherein, when the control device determines that there is differencethat the recognized actual total amount of the chips in the chip tray ofthe dealer of the gaming table does not match with theincreased/decreased amount of the chips calculated from the amount ofthe chips wagered by all the players and the win or lose result of thegame, the game recording apparatus is configured to be capable ofallocating indexes or time points to the acquired images or reproducingthe images specified with a collection scene or a redemption scene ofthe chips so that the record of the game where the difference occurs canbe analyzed in the game recording apparatus.

(7) The fraud detection system according to any one of (1) to (3),wherein the image analyzing apparatus or the control device has astructure where, although a portion of or the entire chips among aplurality of the chips placed on the gaming table is concealed due to ablind spot of the camera, information on the type, number, and positionof the wagered chips can be obtained.

(8) The fraud detection system according to (1), wherein the controldevice has a structure capable of: 1) recognizing the position, type andnumber of the chips wagered in each play position of the game table andcomparing the history of win and lose of each player obtained from thewin or lose result of each game and the amount of the acquired chips andthe statistical data of previous games to extract a strange situation;and 2) comparing a state that, at a play position of a certain gamingtable, the amount of betting chips at the lost time is smaller than theamount of betting chips at the win time and the statistical data ofprevious games to extract a strange situation.

(9) The fraud detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,wherein the control device performs comparison determination as towhether or not the recognized amount of chips in the chip tray of thedealer of the gaming table is increased or decreased according to thepaid amount of the chips corresponding to the exchanged cash or the paidamount of the cash corresponding to the exchanged chips after theexchange of cash and chips.

(10) The fraud detection system according to claim 9, wherein thecontrol device is further provided with database storing history ofexchange of cash and the chips, and by referring to the database in unitof a predetermined time or a day, and the control device is capable ofperforming comparison determination as to whether or not the recognizedamount of the chips in the chip tray of the dealer of the gaming tableis increased or decreased according to the paid amount of the chipscorresponding to the exchanged cash or the total amount of the paidamount of the cash corresponding to the exchanged chips.

(11) The fraud detection system according to claim 1 or 8, wherein thecontrol device is capable of specifying a player of the play positionextracted as the difference or the strange situation through the imageanalyzing apparatus.

(12) The fraud detection system according to claim 11, wherein thecontrol device has a caution function of informing about the existenceof the specified player in another gaming table when the specifiedplayer departs and arrives at the other gaming table.

(13) The fraud detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,wherein the control device has at least one of functions of determiningas to: 1) whether or not there is movement of chips during the timeinterval from the start of extraction of cards or from the game startoperation of the dealer before the win or lose result of the game isdisplayed by the card distribution device in each game; 2) whether ornot there is movement of chips by a person other than the dealer duringthe time interval when the dealer collects chips wagered by the losersamong the game participants after the end of each game; 3) whether ornot a chip is added during the time interval when the dealer collectschips wagered by the losers among the game participants after the end ofeach game; 4) whether or not the dealer performs payment for a positionof chips wagered by the winner among the game participants after the endof each game; and 5) whether or not the winner among the gameparticipants receives wagered chips and paid chips after the end of eachgame.

(14) The fraud detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,wherein the win/lose result determining apparatus is a card distributiondevice which distributes the cards in the gaming table or a controldevice which determines the win or lose result of each game frominformation of the image analyzing apparatus reading the cardsdistributed in the gaming table by using a camera.

Real “sales” of a casino manager in casino facilities (a casino) are thetotal amount of chips bet by a player. In addition, an amount obtainedby subtracting a paid amount from the sales is a profit (a gross profit)of the casino manager. However, in the current casino, the sales or theprofit are not capable of being managed. In addition, a transition ofthe sales or the profit for each table or each pit is not capable ofbeing recognized in detail.

Therefore, an object of this embodiment is to recognize the sales or theprofit in all of the casinos, or the profit or the profit for each tableor each pit.

In order to attain the object described above, one aspect of thisembodiment is a game management system managing a casino game performedin a plurality of tables in casino facilities, the system including: acamera obtaining an image by capturing bet gaming tokens; an informationprocessing device specifying a betting amount on the basis of the typeand the number of gaming tokens in the image by specifying a bettingtarget on the basis of a position of the gaming token in the image; agame result determination device determining a game result of the casinogame; a calculation device calculating a profit of a casino manager foreach table and each game of the plurality of tables, on the basis of thebetting target, the betting amount, and the game result; and a recordingapparatus recording the profit.

The game result determination device may be an electronic shoe includinga containing portion containing playing cards, an extraction mechanismfor extracting the playing cards one by one from the containing portion,a detection unit detecting contents of the playing cards extracted bythe extraction mechanism, and a determination unit determining a gameresult of a baccarat game according to a rule of the baccarat game, onthe basis of the contents of the playing cards detected by the detectionunit.

In addition, another aspect of this embodiment is a game managementsystem managing a casino game performed in casino facilities, the systemincluding: a betting detection section detecting betting contentsincluding a betting target and a betting amount of the casino game; agame result determination section determining a game result of thecasino game; and a calculation section calculating a profit of a casinomanager on the basis of the betting contents and the game result.

The betting detection section may include a capturing section obtainingan image by capturing the casino game, and an information processingsection specifying the betting contents on the basis of the image.

The information processing section may specify the betting contents onthe basis of the position, the type, and the number of gaming tokens inthe image.

The information processing section may specify the betting contents onthe basis of the image, according to image recognition using a machinelearning model.

The casino game may be a game using playing cards, and the game resultdetermination section may include, an electronic shoe including acontaining portion containing the playing cards, an extraction mechanismfor extracting the playing cards one by one from the containing portion,and a detection unit detecting contents of the playing cards extractedby the extraction mechanism, and a determination section determining agame result of the casino game according to a rule of the casino game,on the basis of the contents of the playing cards detected by thedetection unit.

The game management system may further include a dealer amount detectionsection detecting a total amount of gaming tokens of a dealer, and thecalculation section may further calculate the profit, on the basis ofthe total amount.

An RF tag storing information of being capable of specifying at least avalue of the gaming token may be built in the gaming token, and thedealer amount detection section may include an RF reader reading out theRF tag.

The betting detection section may detect the betting contents for eachgame, the game result determination section may determine the gameresult for each game, and the calculation section may calculate a profitfor each game on the basis of the betting contents and the game resultof the same game.

The game management system may further include a table creation sectioncreating a table indicating the profit for each game.

The casino facilities may include a plurality of tables in which thecasino game is performed, the betting detection section and the gameresult determination section may be disposed on each table, and thecalculation section may calculate the profit for each table, withrespect to the plurality of tables.

The game management system may further include a table creation sectioncreating a table indicating the profit for each table.

The calculation section may further calculate a total betting amount onthe basis of the betting contents.

The calculation section may further calculate a profit rate on the basisof the profit and the total betting amount.

The game management system may further include an alarming sectiongenerating an alarm with respect to the profit rate of less than orequal to a predetermined threshold value.

The game management system may further include an alarming sectiongenerating an alarm with respect to the profit rate of greater than orequal to a predetermined threshold value.

Still another aspect of this embodiment is a game management systemmanaging a casino game performed in a plurality of tables in casinofacilities, the system including: a camera obtaining an image bycapturing bet gaming tokens, an information processing device specifyinga betting amount on the basis of the type and the number of gamingtokens in the image; a calculation device calculating a total bettingamount for each table with respect to the plurality of tables; and arecording apparatus recording the total betting amount for each table.

Still another aspect of this embodiment is a game management systemmanaging a casino game performed in a table of casino facilities, thesystem including: a camera obtaining an image by capturing bet gamingtokens; an information processing device specifying a betting amount onthe basis of the type and the number of gaming tokens in the image; acalculation device calculating a total betting amount for each game; anda recording apparatus recording a transition of the total betting amountfor each game.

The game management system of this embodiment is capable of recognizingthe sales (the total betting amount) or the profit for each of all or apart (the table) of the casino facilities according to the configurationdescribed above.

Hereinafter, the game management system of this embodiment will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. FIG. 20 is a schematic view ofcasino facilities to which a game management system 100 of thisembodiment is introduced. As illustrated in FIG. 20, a plurality ofgaming tables 4 are disposed in the casino facilities, and a casino gameis performed in each of the gaming tables 4. In the gaming table 4, oneside is a dealer side on which a dealer is positioned, and the otherside is a player side on which a player is positioned. In the example ofFIG. 20, an upper side of each of the gaming tables 4 is the playerside, and a lower side is the dealer side.

Betting is performed on the gaming table 4 by using chips 9. In eachgame, the player places the type and the number of chips 9 to be bet byhimself in an area corresponding to a betting target on the gaming table4, and thus, performs betting.

In gaming tokens (hereinafter, referred to as “chips”) 9, the design ofa front surface and a side surface is different for each type, and anyone of the front surface and the side surface is observed, and thus, thetype can be specified. In this embodiment, a value different for eachtype (for example, 1000 dollars, 100 dollars, 10 dollars, or the like)is applied to the chips 9. Accordingly, the type is specified, and thus,the value of the chip 9 is specified.

An RF tag recording information of being capable of specifying at leastthe type is built in the chips 9. The information recorded in the RF tag(RF tag information) may include information indicating the type of chip9, or may include identification information uniquely specifying thechips 9. In a case where the RF tag information is the identificationinformation, a database is prepared in which information of a typecorresponding to the identification information is stored, and thus, itis possible to specify the type corresponding to the identificationinformation read out from the chips 9, with reference to the database.In this embodiment, both of the information indicating the type and theidentification information are recorded in the RF tag of the chip 9, andthe value can be specified by the information indicating the type.

A chip tray 17 is disposed on a dealer side of the gaming table 4. Thechips 9 of the dealer are contained in the chip tray 17. An antenna 173for reading out the RF tag information of the RF tag built in the chips9 is disposed on the inside or the outside of the chip tray 17. Theantenna 173 receives an electrical wave from the RF tag of the chips 9contained in the chip tray 17.

A card distribution device 3 which also functions as a win or losedetermination device is disposed on the gaming table 4 to be used. Theconfiguration of the card distribution device 3 is identical to the carddistribution device 3 of the first embodiment or the second embodiment,and thus, the detailed description will be omitted. In this embodiment,the card distribution device 3 determines a win or lose result of anyone of for each game, according to a rule of a baccarat game the winningof the player, the winning of a banker, and a tie. That is, asillustrated in FIG. 15 to FIG. 19, the card distribution device 3 is anelectronic shoe including a card containing portion 102 containingplaying cards 1 s, a card guiding portion 105 and an opening portion 106configuring an extraction mechanism for extracting the playing cards 1 sone by one from the card containing portion 102, card detection sensors22 and 23 and a card reading unit 108 configuring a detection unitdetecting the contents of the playing cards 1 extracted by theextraction mechanism, and a control unit 109 as a determination unitdetermining a game result of the baccarat game on the basis of thecontents of the playing cards detected by the card reading unit 108,according to the rule of the baccarat game.

A camera 2 is disposed on each of the gaming tables 4. The camera 2 isattached to a tip end of a pole extending towards the upper side, and isdisposed on a high portion of the gaming table 4. A capturing directionand an angular field of the camera 2 are set such that the camera 2 iscapable of capturing a range including at least a betting area of thegaming table 4 (an area where the player places the chips 9 in order forbetting), the card distribution device 3, and the chip tray 17. Thecamera 2 is capable of obtaining an image by capturing the bet chips.

Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 20, one camera 2 is disposed on eachof the gaming tables 4, but a plurality of cameras 2 of which at leastone of the dispose positions, the capturing directions, or the angularfields are different from each other, may be disposed on each of thegaming tables 4 to capture different ranges. For example, the camera 2capturing the betting area and the camera 2 capturing the chip tray 17may be separately disposed, or the same betting area may be captured bya plurality of cameras of which the disposition heights are differentfrom each other, and the capturing directions are different from eachother.

A control device 14 is further disposed on each of the gaming tables 4.The control device 14 is connected to the camera 2 of the gaming table 4(in a case where the number of cameras 2 is plural, a plurality ofcameras 2), the card distribution device 3, and the RF antenna 173. Thecontrol device 14 has a plurality of functions as an informationprocessing device.

First, the control device 14 has a function as an RF reader, whichspecifies the type of all of the chips 9 contained in the chip tray 17,on the basis of the electrical wave received by the antenna 173,calculates the total amount of the chips 9 contained in the chip tray17, and records the total amount. In addition, the control device 14 hasa function of receiving the win or lose result of each of the games fromthe card distribution device 3, and of recording the result. Further,the control device 14 has a function as an image recognition device,which acquires a captured image from the camera 2, performs imagerecognition using a machine learning model, with respect to the capturedimage, and recognizes betting contents, that is, how much the playerbets on the betting target, which player bets, which betting target theplayer bets on, as with the first embodiment and the second embodiment.The machine learning model may be a neural network of a deep learningstructure. Specifically, the control device 14 specifies the player andthe betting target on the basis of the positions of the chips 9 in thecaptured image, and specifies the betting amount on the basis of thetype and the number of chips 9 in the captured image.

Thus, the control device 14 recognizes the total amount of the chips 9contained in the chip tray 17 (hereinafter, also referred to as a“dealer amount”) by using the antenna 173, recognizes the win or loseresult of the game (hereinafter, also referred to as a “game result”) byusing the card distribution device 3, and recognizes the bettingcontents by using the image from the camera 2, for each game, on each ofthe gaming tables 4. It is possible to calculate the sales and theprofit of the casino manager in each of the games, on the basis of suchinformation (the chip tray total amount, the game result, and thebetting contents).

The game management system 100 includes a management device 50 connectedto the control device 14 of the plurality of gaming tables 4. Themanagement device 50 is configured of a general-purpose computer. Themanagement device 50 includes an arithmetic device 51 and a recordingapparatus 52. The general-purpose processor executes a computer programof this embodiment, and thus, the arithmetic device 51, for example, isrealized. The arithmetic device 51 includes a calculation unit 511, atable creation unit 512, and an alarming unit 513.

The calculation unit 511 acquires the information of the dealer amount,the game result, and the betting contents for each game, from theplurality of control devices 14, and calculates the sales, the profit(the gross), and the profit rate (a gross rate) for each gaming table 4.The table creation unit 512 creates a table and a graph in which thesales and the profits calculated by the calculation unit 511 arearranged in time series for each table.

Furthermore, the calculation unit 511 may calculate the sales, theprofit, and the profit rate for each position of the player on each ofthe gaming tables 4, and the table creation unit 512 may create thetable and the graph in which the sales, the profits, and the profitrates are arranged in time series for each position of the player oneach of the gaming tables 4. In addition, in a case where the gamemanagement system 100 includes a section recognizing the player, thesales according to the betting of the player and the profit obtainedfrom the player may be calculated, and the table and the graph may becreated, for each player.

The recording apparatus 52 records the sales, the profit, and the profitrate calculated by the calculation unit 511, in the form of the tableand the graph created by the table creation unit 512.

Specifically, the calculation unit 511 calculates the total amount (thesales) of the betting amount for each of the plurality of gaming tables4 and each game, obtains the degree of collection or the redemption withrespect to which betting target, on the basis of the betting target, thebetting amount, and the game result, and calculates the profit of thecasino manager. In addition, the calculation unit 511 obtains adifference in the dealer amount before and after the table game, foreach of the plurality of gaming tables 4 and each game, and thus,calculates the profit of the casino manager. The profit of the former isa so-called theoretical value, and the profit of the latter is aso-called result value, and it is necessary that the theoretical valueand the result value are coincident with each other. The calculationunit 511 determines whether or not the theoretical value and the resultvalue are coincident with each other, and in a case where thetheoretical value and the result value are coincident with each other,the profit is adopted, and in a case where the theoretical value and theresult value are not coincident with each other, a warning to thateffect may be generated.

The calculation unit 511 further calculates the total amount (the sales)of the betting amount for each of the plurality of tables 4 and eachgame. In addition, the calculation unit 511 calculates the profit rate(the gross rate) (=Profit/Sales) on the basis of the sales and theprofit (the gross) of a predetermined period or a predetermined numberof games.

The table creation unit 512 adds up the sales, the profit, and theprofit rate calculated by the calculation unit 511, and creates varioustables and graphs. FIG. 21 is an example of a table indicating the sales(the total amount of the betting amount) for each gaming table 4,created by the table creation unit 512. As illustrated in FIG. 21, thetable creation unit 512 creates a table indicating the number of betchips 9 of each type for each gaming table 4. The number of respectivechips 9, for example, may be an added-up number for each predeterminedtime such as a time period from 0 hours to 0 hours on the next day. In acase where the casino facilities are not in 24-hour operations, thenumber of respective chips 9 may be an added-up number for each businesshour for one day. Further, the number of respective chips 9 may be anadded-up result within a predetermined time in the past, on the basis ofa creation time. The table further includes the total amount of chips(the sales) in each of the gaming tables 4. According to the table, itis possible to compare the sales in the same time zone for each gamingtable, and to know the total sales of the all of the casino facilitiesin the time zone.

FIG. 22 is an example of a table indicating the sales for each game ineach of the gaming tables 4, created by the table creation unit 512.FIG. 22 is a table illustrating the sales with respect to Table 1. Asillustrated in FIG. 22, the table creation unit 512 creates a tableindicating the number of various bet chips 9 for each game. The tablecreation unit 512 may create one table by separating the table forcertain period of time (for example, 24 hours or one business day), ormay create a table for each predetermined number of games (for example,80 games). In addition, the table creation unit 512 may create a tablewithin a predetermined time in the past or for a predetermined number ofgames, at a table creation time point.

FIG. 23 is an example of a table indicating the total amount of thebetting amount (the sales), the profit (the gross), and the profit ratefor each gaming table 4, created by the table creation unit 512. Asillustrated in FIG. 23, the table creation unit 512 creates a tableindicating the total amount of the betting amount (the sales) (the totalbetting amount), the profit (the gross) (the gross profit), the profitrate (the gross rate) (=Profit/Sales) (a profit ratio) for each gamingtable 4. The table creation unit 512 may create one table by separatingthe table for a certain period of time (for example, 24 hours, one week,one month, or the like), or may create a table for each predeterminednumber of games (for example, 100 games, 1000 games, or the like). Inaddition, the table creation unit 512 may create a table within apredetermined time in the past or for a predetermined number of games,at a table creation time point.

FIG. 24 is an example of a polygonal line graph illustrating atransition of the profit in each of the gaming tables 4, created by thetable creation unit 512, and FIG. 25 is an example of a graphillustrating a transition of the profit of all of the casino facilities.In case where the casino facilities are operated from 8 a.m. to 6 a.m.on the next day, the transition of the profit for one business day isillustrated in the examples of FIG. 24 and FIG. 25. According to thegraph as illustrated in FIG. 24 or FIG. 25, the transition of the profitis easily understood, and thus, it is possible to perform businessanalysis of the casino facilities. In addition, the transition of theprofit for each table is indicated as illustrated in FIG. 24, and thus,a table having a peculiar transition of the profit is easily found.

FIG. 26 is an example of a bar graph illustrating a profit rate for eachgaming table 4, created by the table creation unit 512. According to thebar graph, the quantity of the profit obtained in each of the gamingtables 4 becomes obvious.

Furthermore, in the examples described above, the calculation unit 511and the table creation unit 512 calculate the sales, the profit, and theprofit rate for each gaming table 4, and create the table or the graph,but instead thereof or in addition thereto, may calculate the sales, theprofit, and the profit rate for each pit in which the plurality ofgaming tables 4 are collected, and may create a table or a graph.

The calculation unit 511 may calculate the sales, the profit, and theprofit rate whenever the information of the dealer amount, the gameresult, and the betting contents is acquired for each game, or maycalculate the sales, the profit, and the profit rate at a timing whenthe table creation unit 512 creates a table.

The table creation unit 512 may create a table for each period targetedby the table or the graph. For example, in a case where the tablecreation unit 512 creates a graph illustrating a transition of the salesfor one day (for 24 hours) on each of the gaming tables 4, the table maybe automatically created every 24 hours (as soon as the data iscollected). Alternatively, the table creation unit 512 may create thetable or the graph at a manually indicated timing, regardless of theperiod targeted by the table or the graph. Alternatively, the tablecreation unit 512 may automatically create the table or the graph at aninterval shorter than the period targeted by the table or the graph. Forexample, adding-up for 24 hours in the past may be performed every 6hours, and thus, the table or the graph may be created.

The alarming unit 513 determines that a peculiar situation occurs on thebasis of the sales, the profit, and the profit rate calculated by thecalculation unit 511, and the adding-up of the table creation unit 512,and generates an alarm. For example, the alarming unit 513 may comparethe profit rate calculated by the calculation unit 511 or the profitrate for a predetermined period or for a predetermined number of games,added up by the table creation unit 512, with a predetermined firstthreshold value, and may generate an alarm when the profit rate is lessthan or equal to the first threshold value, or may compare the profitrate calculated by the calculation unit 511 or the profit rate for apredetermined period or for a predetermined number of games, added up bythe table creation unit 512, with a predetermined second thresholdvalue, and may generate an alarm when the profit rate is greater than orequal to the second threshold value. In addition, the alarming unit 513may compare the profit and the sales with a predetermined thresholdvalue, and thus, may generate an alarm.

The alarming unit 513 may perform more complicated analysis with respectto the sales or the profit, and may find a peculiar situation. Forexample, the alarming unit 513 may generate an alarm on the basis of thetransition of the profit rate in the table or graph created by the tablecreation unit 512. In this case, the peculiar situation may bedetermined by using the machine learning model. The machine learningmodel may be a model of outputting a probability of being peculiar byusing the transition of the profit rate obtained by the adding-up of thetable creation unit 512 as input, and in a case where the probability isless than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, the alarming unit513 may determine that it is the peculiar situation, and may generate analarm.

The alarm may be realized by a section of attaching a mark to an elementwhich is determined as being peculiar in the table or the graph createdby the table creation unit 512, and in addition, in a case where such apeculiar situation occurs, the alarm may be realized by generating andoutputting an image, a sound, a driving signal of an alarm device (alamp, a buzzer, or the like), and the like. In the example of FIG. 23,the alarm is realized by hatching Table 3 in which the profit rate isless than 0%.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, in the game table4, the bet contents are determined by the camera 2 and the controldevice 14 as the image recognition device, the game result is determinedby the card distribution device 3, and the dealer amount is determinedby the antenna and the RF reader and the information is intensivelymanaged by the management devices 50 and 60, and as a result, it ispossible to automatically determine the sales, the profit, the profitrate, etc. of a casino operator.

In the embodiment described above, the win or lose determination deviceis realized by the card distribution device 3, that is, the carddistribution device 3 has a configuration of performing win or losedetermination, but the win or lose determination may be performed by thecontrol device 14. In this case, from the card distribution device 3,the information read out from the distributed card (card readinginformation) is transmitted to the control device 14, and the controldevice 14 determines the win or lose result of the game according to thegame rule, on the basis of the card reading information from the carddistribution device 3, as the win or lose determination device.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the calculation unit 511calculates the sales, the profit, and the profit rate, and the tablecreation unit 512 creates the table or the graph by adding up thecalculated sales, profit, and profit rate, but instead thereof, a partor all of the adding-up may be performed by the calculation unit 511,and the table creation unit 512 may create the table or the graph byusing the added-up result of the calculation unit 511.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Playing card 30 Distribution restricting device1s Plurality of shuffle playing cards 33 Slot 2 Surveillance camera 34Lock member 3 Card distribution device 35 Driving unit 4 Gaming table 36Lock member 5 Dealer 37 Driving unit 6 Player (game participant) 40Distribution restricting device 7 Seat 50 Management device 8 Bettingarea 51 Arithmetic device 9 Chip 511 Calculation unit 10 Area 512 Tablecreation unit 10P Player area 513 Alarming unit 10B Banker area 52Recording apparatus 11 Game recording apparatus 102 Card containingportion 12 Image analyzing apparatus 103 Index 13 Result display lamp105 Card guiding portion 14 Control device 106 Opening portion 14C Carddistribution sensing device 107 Card guide 15 Output (abnormalitydetermination 109 Control unit result or the like) 112 Side monitor 16Abnormality display lamp

What is claimed is:
 1. A management system for management of games in acasino having a plurality of game tables, comprising: for each gametable of the plurality of game tables: a camera configured to capture animage of one or more chips on the game table; an image analyzer with adeep learning structure configured to identify positions, types, andnumber of chips on the game table based on an image analysis of theimage; and a controller configured to, for each player position or eachplayer at the game table, determine an amount bet based on theidentified positions, types, and number of chips; and a managementdevice configured to, based on the amount bet for each player positionor each player at each game table of the plurality of game tables:calculate, for a predetermined period of time or a predetermined numberof games, a profit parameter based on: a total amount of bets on theplurality of game tables, a total number of bets on the plurality ofgame tables, a total profit of a game organizer on the plurality of gametables, a total profit ratio of the game organizer on the plurality ofgame tables, or a combination thereof.
 2. The management deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein, for each game table of the plurality ofgame tables, the image analyzer is configured to perform the imageanalysis on the image.
 3. The management device according to claim 1,wherein the management device is configured to receive, in associationwith each game table of the plurality of game tables, an indication ofthe bet amount of the game table for each player position or each platerat the game table.
 4. The management device according to claim 1,wherein the management device is configured to calculate the profitparameter based on: a total amount of bets on the plurality of gametables, a total number of bets on the plurality of game tables, a totalprofit of a game organizer on the plurality of game tables, and a totalprofit ratio of the game organizer on the plurality of game tables 5.The management device according to claim 1, wherein the managementdevice is configured to provide a benefit to a player.
 6. The managementdevice according to claim 1, wherein the management device is configuredto determine a temporary campaign promotion in which a benefit isprovided to one or more players that satisfy one or more conditionsbased on the calculated profit parameter.
 7. The management systemaccording to claim 6, further comprising: a storage device configured tostore, for each player of the one or more players, benefit points thatare consumable to receive a service.
 8. The management system accordingto claim 7, wherein the management device is further configured to, foreach of the one or more players, add points to the benefit points of theplayer stored in the storage device in order to provide the benefit. 9.The management system according to claim 8, wherein the managementdevice is further configured to add points to the benefit points of aplayer stored in the storage device in order to provide the benefit tothe player according to the player's playing performance even when theone or more specific conditions are not met.
 10. The management systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the management device is configured tocalculate a net profit of the game organizer as the total profit. 11.The management system according to claim 1, wherein the managementdevice is configured to calculate a profit-to-sales ratio of the gameorganizer as the total profit.
 12. The management system according toclaim 1, wherein the management device is configured to calculate theprofit parameter for each type of betting target or player position. 13.The management system according to claim 1, wherein the managementdevice is configured to calculate the profit parameter for a specifictype of betting target among a plurality of types of betting targets ora specific player position among a plurality of player positions. 14.The management system according to claim 8, wherein the type of bettingtarget includes a player betting target, a banker betting target, a tiebetting target, a pair betting target, or a combination thereof.
 15. Themanagement system according to claim 1, further comprising a readerconfigured to read a member card of a player.
 16. The management systemaccording to claim 15, wherein the management device is configured toaccess the benefit points stored in the storage device for the playerbased on the read membership card.
 17. The management system accordingto claim 1, further comprising, for each game table of the plurality ofgame tables, a player identification device configured to identify aplayer who plays at the game table.
 18. The management system accordingto claim 17, wherein the management device is further configured torecord a bet amount for each player identified by the playeridentification device.
 19. The management system according to claim 1,wherein, for at least one game table of the plurality of game tables,the camera of the game table is configured to capture one or more imagesof a plurality of stacks of chips placed offset in the depth directionalong with the layout of the betting areas of the game table.
 20. Themanagement system according to claim 19, wherein, for the at least onegame table of the plurality of game tables, the image analyzer of thegame table is configured to recognize the chips even when some of thestacks of chips are hidden by other stacks of chips.